This conservation advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 1/10/2008 Approved Conservation Advice (s266B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) Approved Conservation Advice for Alloxylon flammeum (Red Silky Oak)
This Conservation Advice has been developed based on the best available information at the time this Conservation Advice was approved; this includes existing plans, records or management prescriptions for this species.
Description Alloxylon flammeum, Family Proteaceae, also known as Red Silky Oak, Pink Silky Oak, Queensland Waratah and Tree Waratah, is a tall tree growing to 25–35 m. It has glossy green, elliptical leaves (lobed when juvenile) that grow to 18 cm long. Bright-red clusters of flowers are borne near the branch ends in spring (Weston & Crisp, 1991; Crisp & Weston, 1995; Wrigley & Fagg, 2007; ASGAP, 2008).
Conservation Status Red Silky Oak is listed as vulnerable. This species is eligible for listing as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) (EPBC Act) as, prior to the commencement of the EPBC Act, it was listed as vulnerable under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (Cwlth). Red Silky Oak is also listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Queensland).
Distribution and Habitat Red Silky Oak occurs in the Atherton Tablelands, north-east Queensland, from Danbulla to Upper Barron River (Weston & Crisp, 1991; Crisp & Weston, 1995). Localities include Tolga Scrub, Yungaburra, Kairi, Gadgarra, Rocky Creek, Malada Lake, and various State Forests (SF) including Wongabel SF and Herberton Range Forest Reserve (Graham, 2006; Queensland Herbarium, 2008). Much of the rainforest habitat of this species has been cleared for agriculture and development. This species occurs within the Wet Tropics (Queensland) Natural Resource Management Region. Red Silky Oak is conserved in Danbulla, Crater Lakes and Mount Hypipamee National Parks, Hallorans Hill Conservation Park (EPA QLD, 2007), Curtain Fig National Park (Graham, 2006) and has been used in a revegetation project at Pelican Point (Grundon et al., 2002). This species is present within CSIRO permanent Plot 11 (EP33) Curtain Fig and Plot 15 (EP38) The Crater (Graham, 2006). Population estimates are unavailable; however, most populations occur within SF as remnants, and some of these populations are described as abundant (Weston & Crisp, 1991; Queensland Herbarium, 2008). Although Red Silky Oak is popular in cultivation, such plants are not part of its natural distribution and all plants are likely to represent only a few genotypes. Red Silky Oak grows in rainforest on basalt and complex notophyll vine forests on metamorphics, and on humus-rich gravelly loam from granite, at altitudes of 700–820 m above sea level (Weston & Crisp, 1991; Queensland Herbarium, 2008). In some locations it appears to prefer hillsides, and has been recorded in grassland that was formerly rainforest and in a remnant of closed-forest in paddock cleared for grazing, now a rural residential block (Queensland Herbarium, 2008). Associated species include Aleurites rockinghamensis, Argyrodendron spp., Calamus caryotoides, Cryptocarya onoprienkoana, Dendrocnide photinophylla, Ficus spp., Flindersia brayleyana, Franciscodendron laurifolium, Geissois biagiana, Hodgkinsonia frutescens, and Toona ciliata (Graham, 2006).
Alloxylon flammeum Conservation Advice - Page 1 of 3 This conservation advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 1/10/2008 The distribution of this species overlaps with the Mabi Forest (Complex Notophyll Vine Forest 5b) EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological community.
Threats The main identified threat to Red Silky Oak is clearing of rainforest for agriculture and developments (Weston & Crisp, 1991).
Research Priorities Research priorities that would inform future regional and local priority actions include: • Design and implement a monitoring program or, if appropriate, support and enhance existing programs. • More precisely assess population size, distribution, ecological requirements, habitat fire ecology, and the relative impacts of threatening processes. • Undertake survey work in suitable habitat and potential habitat to locate any additional populations/occurrences/remnants.
Regional and Local Priority Actions The following priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done to support the recovery of Red Silky Oak. Habitat Loss, Disturbance and Modification • Monitor known populations to identify key threats. • Monitor the progress of recovery, including the effectiveness of management actions and the need to adapt them if necessary. • Identify populations of high conservation priority. • Ensure road widening and maintenance activities (or other infrastructure or development activities) involving substrate or vegetation disturbance in areas where the Red Silky Oak occurs do not adversely impact on known populations. • Minimise adverse impacts from land use and clearing at known sites. • Investigate further formal conservation arrangements such as the use of covenants, conservation agreements or inclusion in reserve tenure. Conservation Information • Raise awareness of the Red Silky Oak within the local community. Enable Recovery of Additional Sites and/or Populations • Undertake appropriate seed collection and storage. • Investigate options for linking, enhancing or establishing additional populations. • Implement national translocation protocols (Vallee et al., 2004) if establishing additional populations is considered necessary and feasible.
This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to Red Silky Oak, but highlights those that are considered to be of highest priority at the time of preparing the conservation advice.
Existing Plans/Management Prescriptions that are Relevant to the Species • Wet Tropics Conservation Strategy (WTMA, 2004). This prescription was current at the time of publishing; please refer to the relevant agency’s website for any updated versions.
Alloxylon flammeum Conservation Advice - Page 2 of 3 This conservation advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 1/10/2008 Information Sources: Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants (ASGAP) 2008, ‘Alloxylon flammeum’, viewed 27 May, 2008,
Alloxylon flammeum Conservation Advice - Page 3 of 3